The Independent View: Where Should the Natural Born Citizen Issue Be Contested?

There’s a bit of an argument among academics about whether Canadian-born Ted Cruz is a “natural born citizen” eligible for the Presidency.

But that question, and the general question about who is a “natural born citizen” and qualified by the Constitution for the nation’s highest office, is likely to remain academic for the foreseeable future.

Unless, that is, some state official or state court decides he doesn’t belong on the ballot in the first place. Then the game could change.

While Supreme Court questions in oral argument are often abstract and hypothetical — “what if,” “suppose,” “imagine” — the cases must be concrete. Someone must suffer, or be at risk of suffering, a loss or injury separate and apart from the general public.

The Constitution, while setting out the eligibility requirements, says that the states shall choose electors “in such manner as the Legislature shall direct.” The Supreme Court, in Bush v. Gore, which ended the 2000 election in Bush’s favor, accepted the Bush legal team’s argument that the Florida Supreme Court had “failed to follow the legislature’s instructions on post-election proceedings.”

If a state, perhaps through a Secretary of State, were to actually wipe a candidate’s name from the ballot, the issue might then truly be aired if not answered. The candidate would challenge the decision, and that challenge would then probably wind up at the Supreme Court.

Florida
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), one of the most liberal members of Congress indicated, should Cruz became the Republican nominee, Grayson has promised to challenge Cruz's candidacy. "All that Cruz has done is wave his hands in the air and claimed that it's settled law when it's not," Grayson said.

Grayson said he would sue election officials if they certified Cruz's eligibility, and he thinks it's a legitimate question whether Cruz is a natural born citizen. The Constitution lays out three criteria to be president: The commander in chief must be 35 years old, a U.S. resident for at least 14 years, and a "natural born citizen."

“It’s never come up in the context that the Constitution contemplates, which is somebody running for president and attempting to take the oath of office," Grayson said. "Natural born citizen in the context of citizenship is one thing; natural born citizen in the context of a presidential candidacy may be another thing -- that’s for the court to decide.”

Illinois
The Illinois Board of Elections o February 1, 2016, ruled on a birther challenge to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s eligibility to be on the Illinois March 15th Primary ballot. The board said that, “Further discussion on this issue is unnecessary.” As they rejected the challenge, as well as another separate challenge against Sen. Marco Rubio.

Lawyer Lawrence Joyce brought the challenge, he was one of the lawyers representing people in 2008 and into 2009 seeking to have Barack Obama disqualified from serving as President using the same birther arguments that were made against Cruz.

Texas
Republican Presidential contender Ted Cruz should be disqualified from the race because he isn’t a “natural-born citizen,” a fellow Texan claims in a “birther” challenge filed against the Senator in a U.S. court. The suit seeks a court definition of the term to clarify whether Cruz can or can’t serve if elected.

“This 229-year question has never been pled, presented to or finally decided by or resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Houston attorney Newton B. Schwartz Sr. said in his 28-page complaint. “Only the U.S. Supreme Court can finally decide, determine judicially and settle this issue now.”

Vermont
Vermont Ted Cruz eligibility challenge of Natural Born Citizen update January 1, 2016, H. Brooke Paige v State of Vermont, Civil Docket #780-12-15, Attorney General Bill Sorrell neglected to file timely answer, Notice of Default, Court request for Secretary of State Jim Condos to take appropriate actions.

Mr. Paige informs the court that he will be filing his “Notice of Default” with the court and will subsequently ask the court for an expedited hearing on the merits, a directed verdict based upon the Plaintiff’s Complaint and the issuance of an Order by the Court directing Secretary of State Jim Condos to take appropriate actions to
mitigate and resolve the errors and deficiencies presented in his Complaint.”

Cruz has U.S. citizenship at birth from his mother. He had Canadian Citizenship at birth but rejected it last year. At birth he also had Cuban citizenship from his father, but Cuba does not recognize dual, or triple in this case, citizenship and he lost it at birth.

So the question is the meaning of "Natural". I think it means on the territory of the U.S. and its its territories, foreign military bases, consulates, and embassies.

Under this interpretation, Cruz is not eligible to be President.